The Real Deal New York

Who would have thought that building 732 miniature Renaissance-style chateaus in the Turkish countryside could go wrong?

Developer Sarot Group was placed under court-ordered bankruptcy over the Burj Al Babas project Turkey’s Bolu province, Bloomberg reported. According to the Turkish newspaper Hurriyet, 587 homes are already completed, and 350 were sold to buyers from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait and Bahrain.

The project, which the developers claims is valued at $200 million, includes swimming pools, Turkish baths, a shopping center and a mosque.

Sarot’s chair Mehmet Yerdelen pointed the finger at buyers who failed to pay up. “We couldn’t get about 7.5 million dollars receivables for the villas we have sold to Gulf countries,” he told Hurriyet. “We applied for bankruptcy protection but the court ruled for bankruptcy. We will appeal the ruling.” The project is $27 million in debt. [Bloomberg] — Konrad Putzier